Week 1 of COP29 was characterised by stalemates and delays, and Week 2 was not an improvement, despite a deal eventually being struck at the ‘eleventh hour’ of proceedings. The deal, including a new $300bn per annum climate-finance goal, has left developing countries “bitterly disappointed”.
COP29 had one glaring issue: the presence of 1,700 lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry, from countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and host nation Azerbaijan itself. Whilst fossil fuel delegates received the “red carpet treatment”, Global South campaigners and environmental activists struggled to get their voice heard. Kick Big Polluters Out, a coalition group, found that “fossil fuel lobbyists have received more passes to COP29 than all the delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations combined (1,033)”.
This severely damaged COP29’s credibility, with fossil fuel influence running deep throughout the two week process. A recent UN report has warned that, on our current path, the world will experience future warming levels of 3⁰C. This is far off the 1.5⁰C (above pre-industrial levels) target, which would only be achievable now with a near U-turn on greenhouse gas emissions.
However, there were some small glimmers of hope from COP29. The COP29 Global Energy Storage and Grid Pledge had high-level endorsement, with endorsers pledging to deploy 1,500 GW of energy storage by 2030, boosting energy security. There was also a pleasing new declaration that promised action on reducing harmful methane emissions, a gas that is 28 times as potent as CO₂.
As a wholehearted commitment for change did not materialise, some climate experts have called for future COPs to be disbanded; it remains to be seen whether COP30, due to be held in Brazil in 2025, will go ahead.
Read CarbonBrief’s full summary of what happened at COP29 here.
